Bob Russell

Bob Russell comes from a family which has lived in the Colchester area for at least eight generations. He is married to Audrey, they have twin sons aged 32 and a daughter of 19. His first daughter died, aged seven, in 1978 following an accident. Bob is the only Liberal Democrat MP in the Eastern Counties. He is the first former Mayor of Colchester to subsequently serve the town as MP. A further claim to fame - he could be the fastest typing MP (75 wpm)!

He is a keen supporter of Colchester United football club, and wrote the foreword for the latest history of the club.

Bob is a journalist by profession. For the 11 years prior to his election he was Publicity Information Officer for the University of Essex at Colchester. He began his journalist career in 1963 as a Reporter on the Essex County Standard and the weekly Colchester Gazette. He became News Editor of the Braintree and Witham Times in 1966 and in March 1968 (aged 21) became the country's youngest Editor when he took over the Maldon and Burnham Standard. He subsequently spent four years in London as a Sub-Editor on the former Evening News and later the Evening Standard. He then spent 13 years as a Press Officer for Post Office Telecommunications/British Telecom at the regional offices in Colchester.

He has stood for Parliament on two previous occasions - in 1979 he was the Labour candidate for the former Colchester Consituency (which in those days included more than 30 villages as well as the town), and in October 1974 he stood just over the border in Suffolk in the former Sudbury and Woodbridge consituency. He was second to the Tories on both occasions. He is a season ticket holder for Colchester United Football Club (the U's) whom he has supported for 43 years.


 * Date of Birth: 31.03.46
 * Occupation: MP
 * Education: Myland Primary School, St Helena Secondary Modern School, North East Essex Technical College
 * Experience: Bob is a journalist by profession having worked for a number of local papers, he spent 13 years as a Press Officer for Post Office Telecommunications/British Telecom and Publicity Information Officer for the University of Essex
 * Council Experience: Councillor on Colchester Borough Council since 1971, Mayor of Colchester 1986-87, Leader of the Council 1987-91
 * Marital status/children: Married, three children
 * Interests: Season ticket holder for Colchester United Football Club
 * General: Awarded the Queen's Scout Badge and the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award

Web: Official biography